Venezia: Leg One of Italia

Venice, known to some as the Floating City, the City of Water, Queen of the Adriatic, and the former seat of the Venetian Republic, was an important stop on my Easter tour of Italy for a number of reasons:

1. I've always wanted to go to Venice.

2. There is a night train leaving from Amstetten to Venice often (more than once a week) - one of the few international trains that makes a stop in Amstetten! The others I know about go to Budapest and Hamburg.

3. Not only an important part of Italian history and tourism, the city of Venice is important part of Austrian history as well, having been bought off Napoleon by the Habsburgs circa 1797... 

4. Venetian masks have intrigued me for some time. Also, what Grand Tour of Europe is complete without a stopover in Venice?

Callie in front of canal

Other Italian destinations included: Genoa and the Cinque Terre. In Genoa, we met up with our Lawrence buddy Sarah and made our way down to the Cinque Terre (five villages on the Italian Riviera...also a national park) to enjoy some hiking and sunshine and great food!

Our B&B: founded in 1288!!!

But, I will try my best to keep to Venice for this post. While in Venice, we took it easy - leisurely breakfasts in the morning at our amazing (and Rick Steves recommended) B & B; long walks around the lagoon and through the winding streets of Venice; indulging in aperitivi at overpriced canal-side bars...

The Grand Canal 

On Monday, we visited the Palazzo Ducale (doge's palace), former home to il doge, i.e. the duke of Venice - the last being Ludovico Manin, abdicated in 1797. The palazzo is amazing, a great 14th century structure with facades facing the lagoon and St. Mark's Square. AND, if you go exactly at noon, the line is six times shorter than at any other time of day (presumably because this is when all the tourists decide to take their lunch breaks). Admission is  14 euro, but considering the size of the place and all of the restoration work they have to do, it's worth it, in my opinion.

Callie pointing to a map of Venice

Here are some photos of St. Mark's Square:

And even gondolas in the lagoon!

Very romantic.







Considering one of Venice's most famous sons is Casanova, it's no wonder there's a certain "romance" to the city...this may not bode well for honeymooning couples, however...and we saw quite a few! It seems Venice is the "it" place to honeymoon?


And here are pictures of the Palazzo:

the Bridge of Sighs - unfortunately under repair

columns in the palazzo

facade of palazzo

 

 A funny story about the palazzo/ducal prison: Casanova, imprisoned for licentiousness or some such other offense, purportedly escaped the prison by digging a hole through the ceiling...with a file. He then escaped to Paris.

Perhaps the ducal prison didn't have the security of Alcatraz. But it does have the Bridge of Sighs!

photo in piazza of Doge's palace

Tuesday and Wednesday we took it easy, visiting St. Mark's Basilica (Chiesa d'Oro) and the Frari church (which has painitngs by Titian - most famously the Assumption - placed in their original, appropriate spots in the church/sanctum). We also went shopping, and looked at all the beautiful Murano glass jewlery - and other things - and realized how incredibly expensive Venice really is (having previously been warned). Great for a few days, but living here and not being a millionaire would be impossible!

Another interesting fact: the tap water in Venice is superb, mostly because it is sourced directly from run-off from the Alps. Neat, eh?

ceiling in Doge's palace

view from the Bridge of Sighs

Other fun things we did in Venice:

1. Visit mask and costume shops

2. Drool in the windows of all of the pastry shops getting ready for Easter

3. Get "lost" in the narrow, winding streets of Venice (we were never actually lost)

4. Take the Vaparetto all the way down the Grand Canal instead of paying for a gondola ride

 

5. Have REAL Bellinis at Hotel Metropole (and fooling the bartender into thinking we were guests at the hotel)

Click here or here for more information on our sojourn in Venice :)

A Hungarian Holiday

Budapest philharmonic, which has terrible acoustics 

Recently, I went to Budapest with two friends to celebrate a birthday.

Having been to Budapest almost four years ago with a group of Americans (part of a cultural tour to Eastern Europe while I was a student in Berlin), I figured I knew what to expect. In fact, I absolutely LOVED Budapest when I was there in 2007.


What about the city appealed to me? For reasons I have trouble fully explaining, I just liked it. Budapest has been called the "Paris of the East" and, having lived in Paris, I can agree. Not wholeheartedly, but certainly to an extent.

The neoclassical buildings, the picturesque Danube, the romance of  the chain bridge at night, the ruined beauty of a lost empire (I had not yet been to Vienna...) intermingled into this portrait of a mysterious and inspired, yet impoverished, capital city. I'm really a sucker for the underdog. Also, there were practically no tourists - especially compared to Berlin and Prague. This especially appealed to me, as a tourist who looks down on other tourists (love it or hate it, I bet you do, too, sometimes!).

Franz-Josef strikes again!

This  time, however, I can't say I was feeling Budapest. An observation was made to me the other day, that Budapest is Vienna under 60 years of grime (i.e. Communism) and, from my recent experience, I can totally agree. I think I can still appreciate, however, the Hungarian attitude: despite hardships (ones that many former Communist countries have had to deal with), Hungarians are still optimistic and fun-loving - as far as I can tell. Our tour guide Agnes was quite the character.


I have a great admiration for countries - people - who have lived under Communism (and lived through Communism). During my visit to Poland, I picked up Café Europa
by Slavenka Drakulić, a journalist and former inhabitant of the former Yugoslavia. Her style is bitingly witty, poignant and honest. The book is a collection of essays written between 1992 and 1996 about her experiences of, opinions on and wishes for former Communist eastern European states. Though to date I have not finished Café Europa (other things getting in the way, as they seem to do for me), I can tell that what she has to tell me will affect all of my perceptions of eastern Europe - I think it already has.

Apparently the spot of "original" love locks - Cologne copied Budapest's idea, according to Anges

I went with Stella (who had been this summer) and Jade (who was going for the first time). I think in a way it was a different (interesting?) cultural experience because they are both English, and, despite what we like to think, though England and America seem to be so close to each other in terms of language, culture, mores, etc., we are different, in ways that are often imperceptible.

I think, in fact, I've become more aware of these cultural differences because of my teaching post. Because my teachers ask me all the time, "Is this correct?" or, to read between the lines, "Is this British?" I normally dissent by saying "X is American. Y is British. Both are correct, depending on whom you ask." And that has saved me a lot of grief in the teacher's room. Not to say one is better than the other is diplomatic, if you ask me. I've actually discovered several teachers (and students) who prefer the American way to the British way, but there are plenty of sticklers who think British is best.

I really couldn't care less, to tell you the truth, how non-native speakers prefer to conduct themselves in English, as long as they don't take personal offense to the fact that I'm American (something, in case you haven't  nocticed, I can't exactly help).



But I do love getting to know different cultures from traveling. Including British cultures (I've been led to believe there are several, from my contacts). And I think this ties in nicely to my point on eastern Europe. It's entirely unfair to judge a culture (for good or bad) until you've experienced it first-hand.

Here ends my rant. Feel free to enjoy the rest of this post rant-free.

From here, there will only be photos :) And minor explanations of the photos, where necessary...

Stella & Jade on the bridge

view from the top of bridge

the Hungarian "White House" where the prime minister lives (incidentally white)

<-- this is the Ministry of Defense building, and those bullet holes are real - from WWII!

A Communist monument aka the "penis statue"

Budapest's St. Stephen's Cathedral

One of my faves: the Plague statue

A view of Parliament

the Fisherman's Bastion

Some King - Stephen?

Hungarian flags, presumably for 15 March - Hungarian national holiday 

The National Museum